Something Special
by Mchovey
Summary: Shadow saving Sonic's life suddenly gets turned into a game of twenty questions, in order to know each other more. Sonadow.


Something Special

A blue form laid in the snow that continually pelted his fur coat slowly covering him. His eyes fluttered in and out of consciousness as he thought about his life. The tears in his eye began to crystallize on his bottom lashes and he shivered uncontrollably. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in one the blocks of ice that had fallen off the cliff with him,

"Well I guess this is how I'm going to die... it's kind of funny."

The wind whistled through his already chilled body as if to answer him. It was rather humorous that the hero of Mobious was about to be done in; not by a giant robot, not by some massive catastrophic event, but by freezing; pinned under the weight of the cliff side that had broken away underneath him.

"I should have been more careful... I'm s-sorry..." Sonic said finally losing consciousness but not before he heard the sound of footsteps in the snow behind him.

Sonic awoke suddenly. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the light that shown through a window above him. He tried to sit up to get a better look at his surroundings but as soon as his leg was jarred a sharp pain shot through him. The blue male flopped back down onto the bed he was laying in. How had he gotten here, he thought? He was in a cabin of some sort with a fire burning in the fireplace and something cooking overtop it. Emerald eyes scanned the room to try and find any sign of other life but came up empty. Suddenly the front door unlatched and a figure entered without making a single sound. Sonic watched the familiar form walk to the fireplace and lay down more wood while shaking the snow from his, gun issued, coat. Sonic quickly closed his eyes pretending to still be asleep but a deep voice cut the tense air anyway,

"I know you're awake, faker."

Sonic's eyes shot to the knelling male and thought that for the first time that insult was true. The hog turned his head and met crimson eyes,

"Shadow... you saved me?"

Shadow stood up and began to stir his mystery concoction that he was brewing,

"Don't flatter yourself. Your dead body would have attracted wild animals to the cabin."

Sonic tried once again to sit up,

"A- ah- ray of sunshine, as usual."

"Don't." Shadow demanded moving toward the blue male to help him sit, "you'll hurt your leg more."

Shadow carefully lifted Sonic by the waist making sure to not move the left legs position too much. Sonic gave a smug grin as the dark male did so. Sonic quickly decided that commenting on his savior's actions was not the wisest of choices and instead caught the Mobian hybrids red irises with his green. They were only about a few inches from each other's faces when Sonic whispered,

"Thank you."

Shadow turned his head silently to look down at the blankets that covered the bed ridden hog and began to tuck and fix them to fit Sonic's body. Sonic gazed at the male quietly taking care of him and sighed, knowing he would not receive a response,

"What are you doing out here by the way?"

Shadow got up again and went back to his witch's brew. He grabbed a bowl from a counter top and started to fill it with a brothy substance. He brought the bowl back with a spoon in hand and gave it to the blue hero,

"This is a G.U.N out post. I was sent here to keep an eye on the Dr and wait for a signal if I need to move or engage. You obviously already found him I suppose."

Sonic cringed taking a bite of his stew,

"No... just a regular old robot. I just fell off the cliff after I blew it up."

Shadow blinked, then turned his head away from the hero. Sonic was confused until he heard the unmistakable sound of stifled laughter. The blue hogs face lit up red with embarrassment,

"Hey! What's so funny?"

Shadow slightly turned to Sonic with his hand covering his mouth,

"You mean to tell me you were like that because you lost your balance?"

"Hey, ice is slippery." Sonic raised his voice in defense to which the other male barked out a laugh. He couldn't contain it he wheezed while presenting a grand smile. Sonic began to heat up yet again but this time at the unusual sight. His own smile spread across his face,

"Ha ha. Yuk it up. Anyway, this is really good I didn't know you could cook."

Sonic was obviously trying to distract.

Shadow calmed his outburst in record time and cleared his throat, now embarrassed that Sonic had seen him in such a way,

"Yes, I can do many things you are not aware of, hedgehog."

Shadow got up and retrieved his own bowl of soup. Sonic felt his bandaged and splint leg through the covers,

"No kidding, this patch up job it like it was done by a doctor."

Sonic noticed Shadow flinch from across the room, but then also noticed his gloves were gone and he could only assume so were his shoes and socks. Sonic blushed at the thought of Shadow taking off his clothes, even if it had been for warmth purposes.

"I um have been meaning to ask you about those." Shadow said motioning to Sonic's bare hands. Sonic looked to his wrists and fingers that were decorated with various bracelets and ring. Usually the large cuffs of his gloves would have covered them but now they were on display for the world to see. Sonic looked at his right hand which held his dead communicator and to bracelets then to his left that held a ring and three more bracelets.

"Oh, these are just things I've picked up over the years... I know they all look weird together but I keep them close... because they all mean something special to me."

Something Sonic said caught Shadow's attention and the dark male put down his soup and slid a little closer to the blue one on the bed,

"Can you explain to me... why they are special?"

Sonic looked down at his souvenirs then back to Shadow. Sonic didn't think he had ever just spoke with Shadow for this long and the dark male was asking about him no less. It should be the other way around Sonic thought, he is the mystery,

"Okay but if I tell you something you have to tell me something. That's the deal."

Shadow looked wary for a moment but then nodded.

Sonic gave a small smile and pointed to his blue and yellow communicator. It was adorned with Sonic's little friends' logo of twin tails,

"First, Tails made me this. Obviously, it has function but it's also special because he's my best friend and like my brother. I love that kid... so I like to keep him with me. What about you Shadow do you have a best friend?"

Sonic wanted to face palm with his word choice. Here he was getting to actually talk with Shadow and he was about to be shut down so soon because he reminded him of Maria. Fortunately, that didn't come to be. Shadow thought about his next statement,

"I would say that title belongs to Rouge now, and Omega, they both are... very important to me."

Sonic nodded. He was unsure of how a fully loaded robot could be your best friend but he didn't question it; after all Sonic had not been around Omega very much,

"That's good, I'm glad you have people to support you."

Shadow nodded impatiently and pointed to the next item,

"What about that one?"

The item in question was a green, red and yellow beaded bracelet with some sort of tribal markings in the wood work. Obviously carefully crafted by hand.

"Oh um, Knuckles made this for me. He said it was a totem of his people. He explained to me that the different carvings mean things like prosperity, friendship, and health. He said that his ancestors would make these and give them to neighboring tribes to show their hospitality. Kind of like an ancient friendship bracelet. He he... It was very nice of knuckles to let me in like that and share the culture he loves so much with me. so, I kept it close."

Sonic was in thought now and had forgotten to ask Shadow a question, but the hog didn't have to,

"The only culture I know of is human culture. Well the ones that lived on the ark that is."

"What's that like?" Sonic questioned.

Shadow absent mindly answered, without carefully picking his words,

"Compared to what I've seen of Mobians, boring and strict."

Sonic searched Shadow's face,

"Strict?"

Shadow realized his mistake too late but couldn't back out, him and Sonic had made a deal,

"They would have rules for everything even thing that I didn't understand. Like, I couldn't wear jewelry around my neck like... Maria would. It depended on the item a chain was okay but something like a heart shaped locket was unacceptable. I was not allowed to play games with Maria after a certain age and told that It was inappropriate and that I had to start training and stop... it was just confusing."

Shadow turned his gaze to Sonic who had a stern look on his face,

"Shadow that's not culture, that's ignorance."

Sonic then looked back down to his hand,

"Anyway, this on here was given to me by Amy. She said it was a good luck charm to help me in the water because, you know I can't swim."

Shadow took in the item. It was a bracelet made of pink shells strung together but a part of the sting was crudely tied with a different color thread and one of the shells were broken in half.

"Yeah it's a little rough. When Amy gave it to me egghead came along and ended up smashing it. She was awful upset, but I went back and picked up the pieces later and patch it up. I couldn't tell her though she would get the wrong idea. I just felt like it was something she put thought into and made for me and look at it; it has Amy written all over it."

Sonic chuckled to himself and Shadow considered the pink female he was referring to. Yes, he remembered her. She was indeed Sonic crazy. A part of Shadow felt a little... jealous thinking about it. Sonic continued,

"Yeah but I don't like her like she likes me. She's a good friend but well you know..."

Shadow nodded his head even though he didn't know,

"I've never... never mind."

Sonic urged him to continue,

"No, go on."

"I was just going to say, I don't understand, I've never felt feelings like that for a female. So, I don't understand her, I suppose."

Sonic smirked,

"Well Amy is her own special brand of love. Not everyone acts like her. And maybe you have never felt romantic feelings before because you were surrounded by only humans."

Shadow considered this fact and them met Sonic's emerald eyes. That mysterious blush crept slowly back on the dark male's face. Shadow cleared his throat and pointed to the other hand. Sonic noticed the odd behavior but continued as usual.

The next piece of jewelry was a juvenile, red and white sting bracelet with plastic beads that spelled out _Sonic. The cheap materials had worn down and frayed over the years but the imaginative childlike craftsmanship spoke volumes,_

"Cream made me a friendship bracelet a few years ago. You remember Cream, right? She was only six when she made it. Not much to say about this one except she is a cute kid and how could anyone refuse big cute puppy dog eyes."

Shadow indeed remembered the rabbit girl. He thought about being six years old and what that entails. The dark hedgehog softly smiled, not much but just enough to be noticed by Sonic,

"I remember sneaking to the kitchen with Maria when I was new. We made such a mess and thought that no one would suspect us."

Sonic stared with half lidded eyes at Shadow's smile. His own smirk tugged at his lips,

"She was something special, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was," Shadow answered nervously gripping his arms, "she was a trouble maker... You two would have gotten along well."

Sonic wanted to hold Shadow's hand and comfort him, but decided against physical contact. One thing he had learned about Shadow over the years was that he did not like to be touched.

The item just above Cream's was a silver band with an aqua colored orb placed on the end, like a large wedding ring,

"This... was Chip's. Long story short I traveled around the world with the little guy and we became very good friends but... he had to go. And it's going to sound weird, but I'll never be able to see him again, by the time he is supposed to come back... I'll be long since dead."

Shadow wasn't entirely sure what Sonic meant but he gathered that this item struck a chord with the blue hero, much like Maria did with him. Had Sonic lost this person? He claims they're not dead but might they as well be, if he knows that he will never see them ever again. Sonic looked off and focused on a loose board in the floor,

"Let's move on to the next one. You don't have to answer a question about that one."

"Well what about that one?" Shadow said motioning to a brown and orange checker board design.

Sonic looked back to his wrist and laughed,

"That's a slap bracelet that I got out of a ring machine, dude."

Shadow deadpanned,

"Sonic, you're a hoarder."

Sonic continued to giggle and blush, it felt weird for Shadow to say his actual name. In fact, it was strange in general how close the ultimate life form was to him in the moment.

"I kept it I guess, because it reminds me of home."

Shadow took in the pattern and remembered Green Hill. Shadow reached out but stopped halfway,

"May I?"

Sonic looked surprised but then held his hand up,

"That's fine, go ahead."

Shadow took off the children's toy and clicked it into a straight rod and examined it. Sonic watched the carful treatment of the plastic in wonder,

"You're supposed to slap it on your wrist."

Shadow did as instructed, and with a snap the bracelet wrapped around his arm,

"Very amusing..."

Sonic laughed,

"Okay captain sarcasm, tell me something."

Shadow hadn't noticed but he was now sitting on the edge of the bed with his body fully facing Sonic and his legs on the blanket. He thought about what he could possibly say to the blue male,

"Well I suppose I could say that this plant has finally started to feel like home to me."

Sonic stared in shock. He had not expected such a positive response,

"That's great Shadow, I'm happy for you. That really... really makes me happy. To be honest when I think about you, I always get a little worried that you're not getting on well, but that's excellent."

Sonic thought about him unprompted, Shadow thought. Shadow could see that Sonic wanted to make some sort of physical contact with him and decided to oblige. He was always told that contact between men should be kept to a minimum, but it wasn't like anyone could see them. He touched the next item which was a gold ring on Sonic's middle finger, then he casually held the hand attached.

"And this one?" Shadow almost whispered.

Sonic blushed hard still not sure why Shadow was to intent on knowing about all of his junk. Most of it was completely useless; only for sentimental value,

"That's Shara's ring. She was a genie and... hear me out, instead of a lamp she lived in a ring."

Shadow raised a brow at Sonic. Everything else seemed believable why would Sonic decide now to start lying. Sonic could tell Shadow was having a hard time believing him,

"Look, just trust me okay. I mean you're an alien, Mobian hybrid from outer space who was created fifty years ago, you of all people should know that the weirdest stuff happens to me."

Shadow nodded and urged the other to continue,

"Okay so she isn't bound to the ring anymore. I freed her but she... I think she was in a very bad relationship with this other genie. She wouldn't tell me to many details but... it seemed like she loved him and he used her. He used her love against her. He was the one trapping her. Even after the scum bag killed her for his own gain, when I brought her back, he still tried to call out for her to help him. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wear this to remind me to help those who can't defend themselves no matter what the situation. Whether it be fighting or just standing up for someone."

Shadow felt a pain shoot through his heart,

"That's why I protect this planet..."

Sonic looked up and saw fire behind those beautiful piercing eyes.

"I now know not everyone one is good; that a lot of people I believed to be good are actually bad. And bad people make up a lot of this world but that is why the Marias of the world need someone to protect them. She used to try for me but... she just wasn't strong enough to defend me. So, I have to be strong for everyone, because I know what it's like... I use to be bound too."

Sonic's quills had started to stand on end in excitement from Shadow's words. So much passion was behind them and Sonic knew that this was the same reason he was a hero. Sonic was searching Shadow's intense face for something,

"Shadow that's the end of all my things... why did you want to ask me about them?"

Shadow stared straight into emerald pools with a face of almost pain. He squeezed Sonic's hand tight,

"What about the one on your ankle?"

Sonic froze. What was Shadow... the realization hit Sonic and he found himself wordless. He uncovered his unharmed foot and revealed a gold ring around his ankle. Shadow's original inhibitor ring. Sonic looked back to Shadow's longing eyes,

"I have that one to remind me of you..."

Shadow inched closer until he was completely on the mattress regardless of his shoes,

"Why?"

"I thought you were dead. I gave the other to Rouge but... I had to keep the other one. I don't know I just... that was a massive event in my life and you were a big part of me growing up. I use to keep it on my wrist but I started rubbing off the shine because I would think about you too much. I've had rivals before that came and went but you were always special to me."

Shadow took in a sharp breath realizing that he had forgotten to breath. His mind was fuzzy he had always felt the same way about Sonic. He couldn't put his finger on it but the young male had always intrigued him. He could threaten his life all day long but as soon as Sonic was in peril he would end whatever had threatened him. The dark hero spoke softly,

"I know I don't act... You are very special to me too."

Sonic grabbed Shadows shoulders and pulled him close without protest. They shared a hug and a moment only they could experience. The entire day honestly seemed like a dream and Sonic wondered for a moment if he was actually dead. This couldn't possibly be the same hog that bickered back and forth with him; not the one that claimed to hate him. Sonic then did something that the dark male was not expecting. He kissed his cheek. Shadow was unsure if that was a normal Mobian custom or not but he had a feeling Sonic would never tell.

Another day had passed and Sonic was back on his feet again. He claimed that he was fast but he healed faster. It was just in time too because Shadow had just received word that he needed to head out to the next location. Sonic strapped on all his clothes and trotted outside into the pillowy fresh snow. Shadow emerged moments later with a large pack on his back that he was carrying with ease. Sonic took in a huge breath of fresh air and turned to face Shadow,

"So, after this are, we going back to being rivals at each other's throats?"

"Definitely." Shadow said as he locked the door.

He pulled something out of his coat pocket and handed it to Sonic but the hog only smirked,

"Keep it."

The blue hero ran off into the winter wonderland as Shadow watched the white powder kick up. Once Sonic was out of sight Shadow turned in the direction of his next coordinates. He slapped the slap bracelet down on his wrist and pushed it underneath his inhibitor ring and sped off as well.


End file.
